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25.

Yesterday Olivia said it best, 24 may go down as one of the best years of my life. The memories of this past year will always be in vivid technicolor. A haze of romanticism.

My big goal of 24 was to find my confidence, and I did. Like whoa. The thing that I wasn’t expecting is that my confidence has very little to do with my independence. Instead, my confidence is rooted in my interdependence- I am designed to be in relationships– and I have the most amazing community ever. (Pictures of my amazing birthday party will go up tomorrow.)

Here is what I have planned for 25:

Find my Happy places, go there often. I love coffee shops, for example, but I spent way not enough time in them. Blogging, coffee, chatting, reading? All great in a coffee shop. On the mission to be my most authentic happy self, I need to be better about seeking out the places that make me happy.

Intentional Friendship. I have written over and over again– friends are my everything. When things get crazy busy- I want them to feel loved, cared for, and that I am being an intentional friend.

Go for honestly and not people pleasing. I am a people pleaser to the core. Being honest about how I feel is sometimes more difficult for me than it should be.. it seems vulnerable maybe? My relationships deserve honesty… and I deserve to let go of the responsibility for other peoples happiness.

Church Leadership. I am the community leader at church. I love it. It is something that comes fairly easy for me. Already, in the past couple of month, my faith has grown and I have been changed by the ministry I am involved in.

Service. I have been “shopping” for the right fit for service. Figuring out where my heart is called to has been crazy hard! Homelessness? Low income families? Teen mothers? Human trafficking? They are huge issues. In the fall, I am starting to volunteer fully with an organization called YoungLife. It’s for high school kids in the area. I remember being in high school– it was freaking hard stuff. Being a teenager is hard. My teens were made easier by having an amazing volunteer staff at my youth group… and I know that giving back that will be huge.

Create. Draw more. Paint more.

Continue with the things that work, give myself some grace. Breathing, confidence, time alone; these have all been goals and successes this past year. I am going to continue growing and changing. Learning more about myself. Learning more about what I want and who I am. It’s going to be great. The grace part is when I mess it up, which I do from time to time. I over plan and flake. I overreact. I put my foot in my mouth. But just as I would forgive my friends for slipping up from time to time; I am going to learn to be a bit easier on myself. More full of grace. Grace is a good mantra for 25. I love it.